16th May 2004, 09:09

I am considering buying a 1993 Volvo 945 estate and your comments have been very helpful and encouraging. I am however slightly confused about the difference between a 940 and a 945. I have searched for the information high and low, but most sites only comment on the 940 and no site seems to spell out the difference. Is the 945 a North American designation for the 940?

9th Jun 2004, 12:24

940 is the standard name for the volvo model.

945 is the estate version and 944 is the saloon version.

I have a 944 (saloon) GL 1994. I am REALLY satisfied with it. The engine is easy to repair and keeps on going and going and going... the last real volvo...wonderful.

27th Jun 2004, 03:57

I am thinking of buying a 940 next month and your comments have been extremely useful. I was told by some mechanics to only purchase a 940 model from 1996 on wards. Apparently the year 96 models are problem free as compared to the 94 and 95 model. Can you comment on this?

6th Aug 2004, 03:26

The most reliable 940 are 94-95. In 92, estate 940 got rear suspension a-roll bar (helps handling) In late 93, drivers airbag available. SIPS was incorporated 92 ish. From 95, front body panels revised to be slightly more aerodynamic. Rear suspension changed from live axle to independent. My 940 2.0 SE Turbo Estate 5 spd does around 26 mpg in local urban driving, 30 mpg on 1000 mile holiday in UK (mostly full load and max allowable speed for particular road). I has just done 200 miles at 34 mpg on long journey keeping max speed to 60 mph. Overall, the economy is pretty good for a 143k 1.5 tonne "Brick". Would recommend getting turbo version.

23rd Nov 2004, 19:25

Hi We here in Scotland have been driving Volvos for decades. We are on Volvo number 15 in the immediate family. Right now we have a 940S (1994),440SE (1995),and V40S (2002). They are all very reliable. Our 940 has done nearly 120000miles. We have had them all from new. Next (when we retire) we plan to buy a new XC90 as we tow a caravan. The 940 is a great tow car. All our Volvos are automatic transmission, which is not so popular here as in the US, but we would never go back to manual now as we have had automatics since 1971.

13th Mar 2005, 15:05

Thank you for your comments. I have just purchased a 1994 940, and am happy to hear that I will likely have a good experience. There has only been one owner and it has been meticulously maintained. It has 137000miles, but I got a really great deal.

31st Jan 2006, 16:48

I bought my brother's '95 945 turbo Automatic 18 months ago for a song when he traded it in for a 2004 XC70. The car had 350,000 km on it and I've since put another 25,000. I've had to do the brakes and there is a slow oil leak from the rear crankshaft bearing that would require taking out the tranny to fix. I just check the oil regularly. The A/C is toast, but I was advised against the expense since Volvo A/C's of that era were fragile.

This it my dog-hauling, garden-center and building-center, take-trash-out-to-the-dump car that can actually haul 4x8 sheet goods almost all the way in. It doesn't have a locking diff an I miss it in the snow here in Central Ontario. I have Nokian performance winter tires, but could use more agressive snow tires. The Nokians came with the car.

I found one great benefit of not having AC: with the passenger window down, you can hear the turbo in city driving.

I'd like to replace it for a V70 AWD, but I'll have to wait many more years for it to die on me... If it ever does!

15th Feb 2006, 13:11

A 1995 940 2.0 litre Wentworth has been our family vehicle for 7 years and has been absolutely fantastic. It's just flown through it's MOT having done 105,000 miles, so it's probably just run in. We have the 7 seat conversion which has been a great addition with a growing family.

We are just about to sell it to friends of ours who promise to look after it and we hope they have just as much fun as we did.

The comfort is just superb, all day driving across the continent absolutely no problem, towing a caravan was a breeze and the ability to carry items from bicycles to washing machines was always a plus.

The turning circle and general manoeuvrability of this car is unbelievable and even better than our Volkswagen Polo.

18th Feb 2006, 12:44

First time Volvo owner here...

Mid January I purchased a 1994 Volvo 940 with 149982 miles on it from its original owner.. I even have all the service records on it... I have to be honest and say I was a bit nervous on buying this car with suck high mileage on it, but in the last month doing much servicing in the internet, it seems I got one of the last/best series of Volvos made.

The car purrs like a kitten and listening to it start up in 0 degree weather, there is absolutely no knock/rattle/grinding/ coming from that engine at all...

I will post again in a few months to let everyone know how my Volvo is coming along... Mike.

10th Mar 2006, 06:18

When I stayed in Sverige during their winter, Volvo is the only car you wanted to be in because it starts in -20 deg C and when you skid off the road (even with tyre spikes) a Volvo is the only safe car to be in. I used to have a 760 which was a real drivers car, but when the petrol price went up I traded for a little Kia, but am going to go back to a Volvo as I miss the arm chair seats.

1st Jun 2006, 18:34

I just bought a 1994 Volvo 940 sedan and I love it. I'm 19 years old and its my first car. I feel really safe when driving it on the highway. The solidness makes me feel like I don't sway out of the lanes... which I admit I was having trouble with! this car is like a rock and is sharp looking to top it off. it has 180k miles on it right now and the engine sounds great, looks sparkling. I highly recommend Volvo's to anyone, they look great for older model cars!

25th Jul 2006, 19:49

Thanks for the comments. I am a die-hard 240 fan, but have been offered a 940 and I am now looking forward to the test drive. Good to know that they are just as reliable.

14th Sep 2006, 11:47

Oh yes, the 940 is definitely as reliable of a car as the 240. I owned an '85 240 which was a good car. I've owned a couple of 940's since. They have the same good old 2.3L 4cyl. engine. Solidly built like the 240. I would even say the 940 has a more comfortable interior though... better seats, controls, wider interior, less wind noise on the highway. My '95 940 was a great value, but I'm having a major problem with the way it's running. The engine has fits where it pings and rattles excessively for a few minutes while driving. Then it's fine, then it comes back again the next day, etc. It's very random, but a common daily occurence for me. I have lately noticed the smell of gasoline when I am stopped and the car is running. I fill up at different stations, so it's definitely not that gas. I had the timing checked and it's fine. Can anyone help!? I'm affraid this problem is shortening the life of my car, currently at 156k miles. I was told it might possibly be a bad ECM/ECU, but the mechanic was guessing and didn't want to charge me for an expensive repair that might not cure the problem. I know once whatever is wrong is fixed, the car will run fantastic again and last for another 100k miles.